On a night that should have belonged to the seniors, it was two freshmen that stole the show. Center Amanda Stohr and goaltender Brit Kehler led Minnesota State to a 3-2 victory over Ohio State.
MSU’s (9-19-6, 8-17-3) victory snapped a nine-game losing streak and secured a rematch with OSU (16-15-3, 12-15-1 WCHA) next weekend in the WCHA Playoffs.
“I’m just happy for our kids because they’ve been struggling and battling through this,” MSU coach Jeff Vizenor said. “The kids are working hard but they’re just not getting the bounces.”
OSU appeared to control the game after taking a 2-1 lead at 5:18 of the third period thanks to the stick of junior forward Jana Harrigan. As she cut through the slot, her redirection of a slapshot taken by sophomore defenseman Amber Bowman slid right through MSU freshman goalie Brit Kehler’s five-hole.
But unlike the night before, MSU refused to lose. After OSU junior forward Crystal Sayther pulled down MSU sophomore center Sammy Miller in the corner along the boards, the Mavericks were faced with their seventh power play of the game.
OSU senior goaltender Melissa Glaser made the initial save on a shot taken by MSU freshman left winger Kristina Bunker, but sophomore center Cara Hendry cut across the ice to backhand the bouncing puck over the outstretched arm of Glaser. The goal was MSU’s first power play goal of the night, and tied the game at two.
“It was a lucky bounce,” Vizenor said.
But the back-breaker came at 18:59 of third period when there was chaos in front of the OSU net. Glaser made the save on the initial shot but could not find the rebound. MSU freshman center Amanda Stohr did find the puck, however, and it was her backhanded shot past Glaser that sealed the deal.
“Your adrenaline gets going and then you’re pumped and ready to go again,” Stohr said of scoring the game-winning goal “You feel like you can play forever.”
“I was ecstatic,” Kehler said. “I was cheering all by myself, and I felt a little silly.”
The Buckeyes managed to keep the final outcome in question until the final whistle was blown. OSU launched an offensive series that generated several shots on net but could not find a way to get any more past Kehler. Sophomore defenseman Tessa Bonhomme took a slapshot from the right point with one second left, but a diving Kristina Bunker from MSU blocked the shot and secured the victory.
“It’s pretty frustrating,” OSU coach Jackie Barto said. “We played a solid game, then in the last couple of minutes we were on our heels. They worked for it, but I think we kinda gave it to them.”
Like the night before, MSU jumped out to an early lead but allowed the Buckeyes to come from behind. But unlike the night before, neither team was lighting up the scoreboard. The game was marked by solid defense and timely goals–both OSU goals came on the power play, while the game-tying goal also came with the extra skater.
“Goals weren’t coming as easy as they were the night before,” Stohr said. “Both teams started to play a little more defense and it was a little more physical out there. Intensity-wise, I think we showed up for more than one period.”
But like the night before, OSU outshot the Mavericks by a solid margin. The Buckeyes tallied 43 shots on goal for a total of 79 in the two games, compared to 43 by MSU.
“Not only did we have a lot of shots, but we had some good scoring chances,” Barto said. “You need to bury those. Obviously the puck wasn’t bouncing our way tonight and we weren’t burying [our chances].”
“I like playing in games like that rather than getting only 15 shots,” Kehler said. “For the most part, I saw most of the shots. I felt comfortable.”
The Buckeyes are hoping to use the high shot totals to their advantage in the playoffs, according to their captain, senior Meaghan Mulvaney.
“It’s part of the game,” the forward said. “At least we were getting shots–normally we only get around 20. I think it’s a good sign that we’re going to the net, and we’re shooting the puck. We’re getting the pucks to the net. Now we have to start getting them in. I think we just made some mistakes at the end and it cost us.”
MSU, on the other hand, is looking to use this victory as momentum for its own playoff run.
“It’s a huge confidence builder going into the playoffs, the feeling of how it feels to win and how much better that feels than the loss does,” Stohr said.
